Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. – Down by five runs in the middle innings, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (14-19, 50-49) never panicked. They ground away at the San Jose Giants (19-14, 56-43) and pulled off a dramatic 9-7 walk-off win at Morongo Field on Thursday night.
To get the game underway, Hayden Alvarez powered the Quakes to a hot start at the plate. He launched a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning, supplying them with a 1-0 lead.
However, the Giants did not take long to respond. They answered back by plating six runs in the third, fueled by home runs from Oliver Tejada, Josuar Gonzalez, and Dario Reynoso, building up a 6-1 edge.
At that point, Rancho Cucamonga hit the comeback trail and made headway at the hefty deficit. John Wimmer pointed them in the right direction, belting a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth to pull the Quakes back within four runs.
One frame later, they turned to small ball to pull another run back. Alvarez reached on an error and promptly moved from corner to corner on a Kevyn Castillo base hit. Kendrey Maduro then legged out an infield single, bringing Alvarez home to decrease the San Jose edge to three.
San Jose fought back by collecting an RBI infield hit of their own, but the Quakes continued to claw at the Giants' lead. Alvarez and Castillo each drew one-out walks in the bottom of the seventh, and two batters later, Gabriel Davalillo cashed them in. He ripped a two-run single through the left side of the infield, cutting the visitors’ advantage in half at 7-5.
All the while, Trey Gregory-Alford and Victor Garcia stepped up out of the bullpen to limit the San Jose lineup. The duo combined for six relief innings, scattering one run over five hits while striking out six batters to keep the Quakes within striking distance late on.
Trailing by two heading into their final turn at bat, the top of the lineup finished the job for the Quakes. Immediately after a Felix Morrobel leadoff base on balls, Alvarez lifted his second home run of the night, tying the score at seven. Castillo kept up the momentum, drawing a walk to place the winning run on base and setting the stage for Davalillo. He proceeded to connect on a two-run long ball of his own, completing the comeback in dramatic walk-off fashion.
The Quakes go for their third win in a row over the Giants on Friday at 6:30 PM. LHP Derek Clark toes the slab for Rancho Cucamonga opposite RHP Keyner Martinez for San Jose. To celebrate Dino Night at Morongo Field, the first 1,500 fans through the gates will receive a special Tremor jersey, honoring the team’s favorite Rallysaurus.